Binder-strapping reel



May 2, 1950 L. o. GREEN BINDER-STRAPPING REEL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1949 M a 7 M 2? 1 A M 5 w m m S w W L T "n JJ 1 W x L .n W, m l H1 W 3 @Wm mw J, m 1l M .J, W. r

y 2, 1950 L. o. GREEN 2,506,354

BINDER-STRAPPING REEL Filed May 4, 1949 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 II 25 i I 42 g l Patented May 2, 1950 BINDER-STRAPPING REEL Loman 0. Green, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Signode Steel Strapping Company, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Delaware Application May 4, 1949, Serial No. 91,403

4 Claims. I

My invention relates to binder-strapping reels.

It will be illustrated and explained as embodied in a reel particularly adapted for steel binderstrapping of the flat or ribbon variety.

In the binding of packages or bundles and other uses binder strapping is in the great majority of cases taken from coils. The removal of strapping from coils as desired has always presented a problem. Reels rotatably to hold the coils have been devised but simply supporting a coil for rotation does not overcome the difficulties. When strap is pulled from a coil on a reel, the momentum of the reel and its coil, especially that built up by the initial force required to start the reel turning from a condition of rest, tends to produce overrunning; that is, the reel and coil continue to rotate after the paying out of the strapping ceases because the operator is no longer pulling upon it or not taking it as fast as it is uncoiled. The result is not so-called backlash such as experienced with casting reels where the greater speed of the spool actually causes line to be rewound in reverse direction; the inherent stiffness of even highly flexible steel binder strap ping prevents any such reverse winding. However, looseness among the outer convolutions or turns of a strap coil on a free running reel does occur when strap is pulled from the coil. This looseness, coupled with the strap stiffness causes convolutions of strapping remaining on the coil to become crossed, inverted in relative position and, for want of a better term, otherwise generally scrambled. Not infrequently looseness may be such that outer coil convolutions will expand and enlarge beyond the diameter of the reel-drum heads, requiring that they be carefully centered, when strap is again removed, to prevent them from shrinking outside of the reel and interfering with its rotation. The result is that the strap can be removed only with difficulty if at all and much time and effort may be consumed in re-arranging coil convolutions at more or less frequent intervals in order to be able to feed any strap at all from the reel.

A wide variety of reel brakes have been proposed-and used to prevent such strap reels from overrunning with the result mentioned; but whereas a proper brake may prevent overrunning, it injects other objectionable characteristics. Thus when strap removal is done manuallyas is probably most frequently the -casea brake which is active whenever strap is being pulled from the reel creates a drag opposing the operators pull and against which the operator must always work. The effect may become very tiring;

Some varieties of brakes apply braking effects more or less continuously whenever and as long as the reel rotates with the result that, not only must the operator work against the drag of the brake when pulling strap from the reel as just mentioned, but as soon as pull ceases, feeding ofthe strap also substantially ceases. This characteristic of continuously applied brakes presents a second disadvantage under many frequently encountered service conditions. With such a brake an operator can conveniently remove from the reel only a limited amount of strap at each pull. The amount which can be removed will vary depending upon the force exerted by the operator, the adjustment of the brake, and other factors; but around five or six feet per pull may be taken as a fair average. This length of strap is insufiicient for many purposes. For example, only relatively small bundles or packages can be encircled or looped by this length of strap. Consequently when larger objects are to be bound or for other reasons the operator finds it convenient to remove a greater length of strap preparatory to looping operations, it becomes necessary for him to pull strap from the reel more than once before or in the course of looping. This is not only tiring but also time consuming. Furthermore, in many binding operations, even upon small packages, such as in what may be termed chain or team work, operators find it quicker, less fatiguing and more convenient to take from a reel enough strap during each removal to perform several binding operations before repeating the removal operation. Not infrequently condi- .;tions are such that the most convenient technique for quickly binding large numbers of bundles or packages is for an operator to remove from a reel many feet of strapping, which may be laid along the floor or bench, preparatory to the actual looping of the binder about the packages or bundles. With a continuously acting brake these methods can be used only by removing the desired amount of strap from the reel by the requisite number of pulls between looping operations, each pull resulting in the paying out of only a relatively short length of binder. Other brakes have been arranged automatically to release when strap is being pulled and to become eifective when pull ceases. Such an arrangement. while lessening or overcoming the objectionable drag throughout a pulling operation requires some extra efiort to release the brake,

as well as that always required to start the reelv rotating. And it does not overcome the objecd tions due to the limitation in the amount of strap that can be removed by a single pull.

The principal obj ect of my invention is to provide a reel for flexible metallic binder strapping which will materially lessen, if not entirely eliminate, overrunning; which will not inject a drag upon the operator when strap is being removed; and which willpermit more strap to be removed by a single pull than is the case when reel brakes are employed.

Another object is to provide a reel which, although possessing the above mentioned desirable characteristics, is simple, inexpensive, and reliable.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the reel;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a slightlyenlarged'section on the line 3-3:of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a greatly enlarged section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

The complete reel includes a wheeled tubular stand or cart A,'a two-section strap-coil holding drum B and a strap delivery control C.

The reei stand Ahasabase lb of substantially U shape in plan, the side mem-bers H and lZof which are bent downwardly at the front and joined by the yoke 43 as shown clearly in Figs. 1, 2-and 3. Yoke l3'formsa foot for facilitating the retention f the stand in an upright position, which is 'the position normally assumed in use. It'also hasa coil-drum supporting handle I i-of substantially -'U -shape in elevation, the side members l5 and 60f which are bent rearwardly at their upper-endsandjoinedby a yoke i? as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. Yoke I l forms a convenient grip fortheoperator in moving the stand from place to place and-'alsoias a supporting leg when the stand is tipped down for convenient loading'witha'coil. The base is and handle l4 may be made of single pieces of iron tubing, the ends of the side members of the handle being joined at substantially right anglesto the side members-of thebase in any desired and suitable manner, such as the brazed joints is indicated in Fig. 3; The frameor stand may-be made more rigid and stronger by a brace l -S- secured at its upper end to a rod bridging-betweenthe side members-wand it of the handle and secured at its lower end to a rodz i -bridging between the side members ii and E2 of the stand base. If desired, rod-2i may beextended-beyond the base frame members H and t2 to accommodate a pair of wheels 22 and 2-3; Such wheels notonly facilitate movement of the stand and its load but, together. with-the yoke i3, .constitute the stands supporting feet :when it stands upright.

The .strap-coilholdingdrum B comprises two separable complementary sections, which when assembled form a cylindrical hub 25 for accommodating the central opening of a coil of metallic binder strapping, flanked by two spaced parallel cylindrical drum heads 26 and 2'! which among other functions to be later explained, serve to retain a strap-coil in place on the drum hub. The two complementary drum sections 3t and 3! are made of sheet steel. or other suitable material in generally disc-likeform having the parallel outer flanges 25 and 2'! which form the opposite drum-heads and annular intermediate shoulders which-when the sections are together, form the coil'supporting drum hub 25 as shown most secured by rivets 3t.

contact with other objects. Hub 32 has a rear annular flange 38 to which the inner edge about a central opening of rear drum section 38 is Near its forward or outer end, hub 32' is provided with a flange it which forms an'abutment-"for a clamp ring secured by rivets 2 to the inner edge about a central opening through front drum section 3|. The outer or forward end of hub 32 is threaded to receive a wing nut 3.

The rear drum section as :always remains on the standubut by iremovingwing nut 53 the forwarddrum section 3i :may .be removed for ready application of aestrap -icoil. Whena coil is positioned on the half-hub of. rear section .30, the forward section 31 may be replaced and secured by wing nuts-3 whereupon the coiliscarried by the whole hub andiretainedainzplace by the two heads.

i he-strap-feedor delivery control C comprises in'general a strap-feeding :roller 5B,'Whic'h isin alignment with the :drum hub and rotated by .a pair of driving rollersiii'zand 52in alignment and contact with the peripheries of drum heads 2t and El-and rotated thereby when the drum turns, and a-pre'ssure roller inalignment with feeding roller 56. Strap delivered from the drum is'passed between the driven and pressure rollers, the'latter holding the strap againstthe peripheral surface-of the feeding roller. The strap feeding, the twodriving-andthe pressure rollers are carried-byagenerally -shaped bracket having side plates -55 and 56 which are journaled on a post 51 projecting -'from and rigidly secured to side member l'zi of the stand handle 14. Side plates 55"and"56"journal a shaft '68. Between side plates 55 andiifi shaft st-carries the feeding roller 59 and outside :of the sidepla'tes this shaft 69 carries the :two driving-rollers 51 and 5-2.- Preferably all three of theserollers are formed of resilient material, such as a rather stiff rubber or rubber composition so that thedriving rollers will have good traction-with the drum rims and the feedingro'ller-will have'good traction'W'it-h the strap and be suflic'iently compressible to accommodate itself to variationsin strap thickness as the pressure roller presses the --strap"thereag ainst. The strap feeding and driving rollers maybe-securely fastenedto shaft'fifi so as'to be rotatable together in various ways, such as byproviding the shaft with knurled portions62- upon which the rollers may be'pressed, as'indicatedin' Fig; i.

The bracket is biased to-causethe driving rollers 5i and 52 to-contact the peripheries of drum heads Z-B' and 27; -respeetively. This biasing is accomplished'by a coil spring 65 which surrounds post 5 7 and has one end 56 engaging side member 55 0f the handle and its-other-endii'l-engagingth'e side plate 55 01 the' bracket.

In operation the strap feeding roller is driven by the engagement of its two driving rollers upon the-peripheries of the-drum "heads. When strap is pull'edfrom' the reel and thedrumstarts to rotate, the strap feeding-wheel, being driven by the drum heads; which 1 are always of 1 greaterdiameter than the strap coil, and through a high ratio between the diameter of the drum head peripheries and the diameter of the driving rollers, tends to withdraw strap from the reel drum at a faster rate than strap is unwound from the drum by the drums rotation. The result is that the strap is payed out as fast as it unwinds from the drum so that there is no objectionable slack in the strap on the drum and there is no appreciable drag either upon the drum or upon the strap being withdrawn from the drum. Frequently steel binder strapping is lubricated to facilitate its slippage around bundle corners during tensioning operation and its passage through some varieties of binder tensioning tools. Such lubricated strapping is fed from my improved reel without objectional slack and overrunning as readily as is unlubricated or so-called dry strapping.

If desired a metallic bin ill for holding binderjoint seals and a shelf H for holding binder tools may be located between and attached to the upper ends of the side members and I6 of the handle, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Having thus illustrated and explained the nature and a preferred embodiment of my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A reel for metallic binder-strapping comprising a frame, a strap-coil holding drum rotatably mounted on the frame, the drum having a coil carrying hub and a cylindrical coil retaining head, a bracket pivotally mounted on the frame, a shaft journaled in the bracket, the shaft carrying and having fixed thereto a strap feeding roller and a driving roller, the feeding roller aligning with the drum hub and the driving roller aligning with the drum head, a pressure roller carried by the bracket in alignment with the strap feeding roller, the spacing between the peripheries of the strap feeding and pressure rollers being such as to enable rotation of the strap feeding roller to feed strap therebetween, and a spring for biasing the bracket to cause the driving roller to engage the drum head so as to be rotated thereby.

2. A reel for metallic binder-strapping comprising a frame, a strap-coil holding drum rotatably mounted on the frame, the drum having a coil carrying hub flanked by a pair of cylindrical coil retaining heads, a bracket pivotally mounted on the frame, a shaft journaled in the bracket, the shaft carrying and having fixed thereto a strap feeding roller aligning with the drum hub and a driving roller at each side of the feeding roller aligning with one of the drum heads to engage and be rotated thereby, a spring biasing the bracket to press the feeding rollers against the rims of the drum heads, and a pressure roller carried by the frame, the spacing between the peripheries of the feeding and pressure rollers being such as to enable rotation of the feeding roller by the drum to feed strap between the feeding and pressure rollers.

3. A reel for metallic binder-strapping comprising a frame, a strap-coil holding drum rotatably mounted on the frame, the drum having a coil carrying hub flanked by a pair of cylindrical coil retaining heads, a bracket pivotally mounted on the frame, a shaft journaled in the bracket, the shaft carrying and having fixed thereto a resilient strap feeding roller aligning with the drum hub and a driving roller at each side of the feeding roller aligning with one of the drum heads to engage and be rotated thereby, a spring biasing the bracket to press the feeding rollers against the rims of the drum heads, and a pressure roller carried by the frame, the spacing between the peripheries of the feeding and pressure rollers being such as to enable rotation of the feeding roller by the drum to feed strap between the feeding and pressure rollers.

4. A reel for metallic binder-strapping comprising a frame, a strap-coil holding drum rotatably mounted on the frame, the drum having a coil carrying hub flanked by a pair of cylindrical coil retaining heads, a bracket pivotally mounted on the frame, a shaft journaled in the bracket, the shaft carrying and having fixed thereto a rubberlike strap feeding roller aligning with the drum hub and a driving roller at each side of the feeding roller aligning with one of the drum heads to engage and be rotated thereby, a spring biasing the bracket to press the feeding rollers against the rims of the drum heads, and a pressure roller carried by the frame, the spacing between the peripheries of the feeding and pressure rollers being such as to enable rotation of the feeding roller by the drum to feed strap between the feeding and pressure rollers.

LOMAN O. GREEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,155,769 Porter Apr. 25, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 44,680 Netherlands Dec. 15, 1938 819,966 France July 19, 1937 838,157 France Nov. 28, 1938 

